The Rudy

Loud visually, just look at most Crown uniforms: 2003-skin tight golden nastiness 2006-skin tight purple nastiness 2008-pick your least favorite green object and that is what their uniforms were Audibly, think back to Madison in 1995 stomping on the platforms that was helpful to the show. But any guard member that pics up a mic ever is loud in a bad way. Then there's VK...

It is all personal sentiment; in other words, how much worth do you put in marching? For me, I was a whiny baby for a whole year because I didn't march my age-out. The only reason I can get on with my life without thinking about that everyday is that I came out of guard retirement and marched my WGI age-out. That is how special I think marching with my corps is/was to me. Some people get burned out before their age-out and don't come back. Sometimes the "real world" is simply more important to an individual in the big scheme of their lives. My suggestion is march anyway. School is always an issue; there is no shame in spending an extra semester/year in school. Plus, loans will be there and you have a lifetime to pay them back in the worst case scenario. If your significant other tells you "you can't," then ditch them! My point is that there are NO age limits on jobs, schooling, or dreams. You DO have until age 21/22 to do this at the highest level available. I suggest you take advantage of your youth and push your body to do this until your bank account runs dry, your doctor tells you to stop, or DCI says no more.

I marched 2004 and 2006 and haven't been to any other finals retreat but here's my .02. 2004-America/O Canada was played and it was awesome. I do remember kind of being rushed off the field but I got all the photos I wanted so no complaints. 2006-I didn't march the full season thus didn't learn to play anything other than the show, and I was a little upset with the new fanfare that had Appalachian Spring etc. This was only in comparison to the traditional America/O Canada. Again, a sense of urgency was there but I still got all the photos I wanted. Here's a few reasons why things are the way they are: -Extra time in the stadium means high labor costs to keep the operational staff of any stadium there while everything happens. Money makes things change real quick. -CMM's also need to turn in uniforms, horns, and equipment after retreat. This needs to happen asap because in both seasons I marched there was a bus that didn't go back to the housing site and left straight for the airport at too:early AM. Transportation now needs to be quick and immediate because that's what everyone wants and needs despite it coming at the expense of memories. For the record, I wish for all the suggestions everyone has made so CMM's can have an awesome finals night and go out with a bang. Things like fog and Miley are out of place for this event. My finals experiences were awesome. I wish we had forever to cry, take photos, and say goodbye to everything and everyone the way we want. But, I know why there are time limits but lose the middle school dance vibe.

Despite my praise of the fans at Sevierville, the field was terrible. The show in Oswego, IL also has a bad field. I also wish I could remember what city had a field where it wasn't a whole field. On stage left around the 20 yard line, the back sideline slanted towards the back hash all the way to the goal line. It didn't make it to the hash, but we were taken by surprise.

My favs by category! Stadiums synonymous with DCI (fan vibe): Camp Randall-Madison, WI J. Birney Crum-Allentown, PA Mt. Hope HS-Bristol, RI (I think it is Mt. Hope, I know it's in Bristol and that city is just awesome for DCI) Best Grass for performers: Columbus Crew Stadium-Columbus, OH (I promise, better than Invesco Field @ Mile High or Kyle Field in College Station, TX though the latter was for marching band) Breathtaking facilities: Invesco Field at Mile High-Denver, CO Movie Gallery Stadium-Troy, AL (I was surprised) Cutest fans: Sevier County HS-Sevierville, TN Stadiums that are underrated period: Gorilla Stadium-Pittsburgh, KS Warrior Stadium-Elizabeth, PA

Here is a dumb coincidence if you just wanna find dumb excuses. It IS the uniforms! They are back to wearing uniforms by Fred J Miller after being with Stanbury. Check the results: Khaki uniforms with Fred J Miller (2000-2002) average finish- 6th place (lowest final result- 7th) Stanbury uniforms (2003-2008) average finish- 3rd place (lowest final result- 5th) All whites with FJM 2009- ? Of course this is absurd, just helping with the crazy theories.

If I'm not mistaken, BD switched to Dynasty in 2001. Prior to that they drummed on Yamaha so my educated guess would be Yamaha horns as well because most corps that march Dynasty or Yamaha use solely their equipment for everything. Though there have been exceptions like Madison in 2004 (Dynasty-brass Yamaha-drums), SCV (Yamaha-brass Pearl-drums), and Phantom. I will say this about my personal experiences with Dynasty, they can make a good horn. I personally could do without the micro-tune system as it made me overplay the horn too often. I can make almost a two page list comparing brass manufacturers with pros and cons for all models (I'm a nerd who worked at a music store and go to TMEA often) and I would still recommend Dynasty especially if you are on a budget. I cannot speak about the Quantum brass yet other than they don't fit the hands well. Just remember that Jupiter is a growing brand and Phantom sounds good this year, the entire corps just lacks that "oomph" in almost every caption this year. At least no corps play certain brands from big box membership stores.

Glassmen Medina Valley HS 8395 FM 471 South Castroville, TX

The Glassmen uniforms from the late 90's-2002 were sold to Revolution and were worn by Revo until they purchased their black and gray ones they now wear. Glassmen 1999 Revolution 2003